208 SILVAN WINTER. 



(Gratcegus oxyacantha) is for walking-sticks. Its' 

 toughnesSj hardness, and durability, and its capa- 

 bility of receiving a high polish render it peculiarly 

 valuable for this purpose. Its wood is not com- 

 monly found growing at a large size, and, hence, 

 it is made useful in small ways, as, for instance, 

 for the handles of hammers and mallets, and for 

 flails, as well as for the teeth of mill-wheels, 

 where timber, and not iron, is still employed. 

 Though it has some of the qualities of Box, being 

 of a yellowish tinge, fine in grain, hard and 

 susceptible of a high polish, it is not likely to be 

 a substitute for the engraving-wood on account 

 of its liability to warp; and the difficulty of 

 working it prevents it from being largely used 

 by the turner, joiner, and cabinet-maker. 



In times gone by sticks of the Hazel {Oorylus 

 dvellana) were used as divining-rods for discover-" 

 ing the presence of minerals in the earth. 

 Perhaps, for an equally good reason, they may 

 have been employed to make the charcoal of the 

 alchemists. In any case, the wood does make 

 excellent charcoal. It is much employed, how- 

 ever, for fishing-rods, on account of its durability 



